Suns use 12-point shutout in OT to defeat West FloridaMichael ChristopherAssistant Sports Editor

The Golden Suns opened the Arkansas Tech Thanksgiving Classic on Friday night with a 67-55 overtime win over the West Florida Lady Argonauts. Senior guard Rachel Brazell made a layup with 4.2 seconds remaining in regulation to tie the game at 55-all and send the game to overtime. The Suns (2-2) outscored West Florida (2-2) 12-0 to remain unbeaten at home this season and win their opening-round game of the tournament.

"She [Brazell] hit some big shots for us. West Florida is a great team," head coach Dave Wilbers said. "They never quit. They've got really good guards. They're athletic and I never felt good the whole game with our 11- or 12-point lead."

Brazell had four points in the overtime period to give the Suns a 58-55 lead after hitting two free throws. She later added the final basket of the game as she led the Suns with 17 points.

"It really came down to free throws. We just missed too many free throws, if we hit those - we probably win by double digits," Wilbers said. "Hopefully, it's a learning experience. I really like the fact our players gutted it out in overtime. We really dominated in OT and played real well."

West Florida outshot Tech in the second half, scoring 39 points while shooting 41.9 percent from the field. The Lady Argonauts also shot 30 percent (3-of-10) from behind the arch in the second half, while Tech was 1-of-5. West Florida led 55-53 with 25.2 seconds left and threw up a hail-Mary 3-point attempt that would have won the game, but the shot was off the mark.

"We're really happy at home and we talked about playing well at home. I think our experienced players really stepped up in overtime," Wilbers said. "I'm real happy that we faced some adversity and we came through it."

Tech shutout the Lady Argonauts in overtime going 3-of-4 from the field and 6-of-8 from the free-throw line. Tech's overtime effort mirrored the Suns' first-half thrashing of the Lady Argonauts as Tech held a huge 21-11 rebounding advantage, and took advantage of some sloppy shooting and early turnovers. West Florida committed 11 turnovers to Tech's nine in the first half. The Suns finished the game with a 45.5 shooting percent, 18.8 three-point percentage and a 48.3 free-throw percentage.

Anna Baran and Brazell led the team with seven points in the first half. Baran came off the bench and was 3-4 from the field, missing one free-throw and a 3-point attempt. She also had two assists, two rebounds and a steal. Brazell shot 50 percent (3-of-6) from the field and was 1-of-4 from behind the arc. She also had a rebound, an assist and a steal. Tech's Ruby Vaden was held to 3-of-5 shooting and missed both of her free throws, as she totaled six points, six boards and turned the ball over twice.

Tech shot 50 percent from the field (14-of-28) in the first half and 18.2 percent from 3-point range while the Lady Argonauts shot 31.8 percent and were 33.3 percent from the free-throw line. West Florida missed all five of its 3-point attempts.

Krishna Baker fouled out during regulation, but finished with 14 points, 11 rebounds, two assists, a steal and three blocks. Baran finished with 10 points, six boards, two assists and a steal. Vaden finished the night with nine points, nine boards, two blocks and two steals.

"I probably won't sleep too well after that one. It was a good win and they're a good team. They're going to win 20 games this year," Wilbers said. "For the most part, we really played really well in the game. We shot the ball well and did what we wanted to do on offense and it really came down to free-throws. That really let them back into the game."

Tech's next game will be 7 p.m. today against Texas A&M-International who won its opening game over Ouachita Baptist.